By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Ashington FC skipper Karl Ross looked on from the sidelines at The Hunters Stadium on Saturday as the Wansbeck outfit fell to a 5-0 defeat against Pontefract Collieries.
And afterwards the 27 year old – ruled out of the clash in West Yorkshire through injury – said his team mates should use their second half performance as a springboard in their efforts to get out of the relegation places in the East Division.
The Colliers take on Garforth Town on Saturday (November 15) – the start of a run which sees them have five home fixtures out of the next seven – and Ross added: “We need to stick together, roll our sleeves up and take each game as it comes and I feel at home we’ve got a chance to do that. We’re at the stage of the season where we need to start picking up points and we’ll be looking to do just that.”
Ross will again miss out as he heeds the advice from his GP: “I broke my nose in the away game at Grimsby then I played against Newton Aycliffe but I knew something wasn’t right with my breathing so I went to the doctors. I got my nose put right but the doctor told me not to play for two weeks.”
Ross admits that he doesn’t like missing games for his home town club: “I’m a bad spectator,” he said, “I think every player likes to be on the field. It does have plus points because you can step back and see where the team are doing well and where other things are going wrong. You can learn a lot more watching but as a player I just want to play. The second half at Pontefract was a much better watch. It’s tough when you are 3-0 down but the lads gave everything, created chances and were fearless – and that’s what we need to do from minute one in all our games.”
After the final whistle and 3-0 defeat in their last home clash against Newton Aycliffe, the Colliers were booed off the field by some of their supporters – and Ross has issued a rallying call: “They have always been behind us,” he said, “We understand that we are going through a tough time and they pay their money and are allowed their opinion. We’re not putting good performances out there at the minute and it’s maybes the kick up the backside which we need but over the six or seven years I have been at the club, the fans have been fantastic and no doubt that will continue.”